When I first saw the book, The Middle School Rules of Jamaal Charles, I have to admit I had a mixed reaction. On one hand, the title and cover of the book excited me and piqued my curiosity: “Middle School Rules…”, well I teach middle school, so of course a book about middle school life moves to the top of my reading list. Then, both of the characters on the cover of the book are sports figures - another positive. Every year I have several students that view themselves as athletes first and students not second, but more likely fourth, fifth or even the last thing that defines who they are. So right from the start, this book had a strong pull for me. But then…. I had absolutely no idea who Jamaal Charles was, or is? Was he even a real person? I had no clue. Therefore I didn’t even know the genre of the book. Was it a biography? Realistic fiction? After a little internet research I discovered that not only was Jamaal a real person, he is currently a professional football super star!
The book is written in a very easy-to-read format. Each of the 32 chapters (average of 3-4 pages each), is essentially a snippet of Jamal's life growing up in Port Arthur, Texas. The youngest son in a family of four boys, Jamaal was raised by his mom, grandparents, and an extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins. Jamaal had many challenges to overcome growing up - bullying at school and academic struggles due to a learning disability. But through it all Jamaal never gave up - he persisted and found his talent in not one, but several different sports. Make no mistake, this is not the story of someone who just breezed into greatness. Jamaal worked hard, overcoming many hardships and challenges that would have knocked even the strongest among us down.
As I read this book, I kept thinking to myself of students I would recommend the book to: the student that tells me he has no time to read because he has sports practice every night; the student that doesn't see herself as a reader; the student that is being raised by grandparents; the student that has dealt with bullies; the student that struggles in school; any student that just needs to read a story that shows what a lot of hard work and never giving up can do! Many, many of our students will see themselves in Jamaal’s story. This is a story of hope - for Jamaal - and for so many others!
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